The Åland Islands Peace Institute joins the voices celebrating the announcement of “The Nobel Peace Prize for 2011” which was awarded on Friday, October 7th, to three women from Africa & the Arab world in acknowledgment of their nonviolent role in promoting peace, democracy and gender equality. The winners were Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – Africa’s first elected female president — her compatriot, peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman – a pro-democracy campaigner from Yemen. This is not just their victory, but also the victory of all the institutions who are struggling for the rights of women, equality, justice, peace & development in the world.
The Åland Islands Peace Institute has been steadily promoting gender equality and strengthening their position in the society, on Åland and internationally and increasing women´s participation in all activities in order to ensure the empowerment of women which is a precondition for lasting peace.
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize was a victory for women and a very important signal to women all over the world. Most of the recipients in the award’s 110-year history have been men and Friday’s decision seemed designed to give impetus to the cause for women’s rights around the world.
“We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society,” said the announcement read by Thorbjørn Jagland, a former Norwegian prime minister who heads the Oslo-based Nobel Prize Committee.
The full announcement can be found at: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2011/
